The marketplace is replete with foamed products that attempt to provide comfort to support structures. For example, mattress and pillow toppers are often used to provide additional comfort and to extend the useful life of a mattress or pillow. Such toppers are disposed at the top surface of the mattress or pillow, and may consist of foam thinner than the mattress and coextensive with the length and width of the mattress or pillow. The thickness of the topper can be selected based on the amount of support and cushioning desired by a user. The topper provides additional cushioning on the mattress or pillow, and protects the mattress or pillow from soiling.
A variety of additives are known to be added to said foamed products. Such functional agents are generally applied in an attempt to provide essentially new functionalities to the final foamed product. While such agents can be beneficial, in certain applications it can also result in undesirable effects with respect to the original properties of the foam product.
An example of such additive are phase change materials (PCM). Depending on the material of construction, many mattresses and pillows have poor heat dissipation, which is uncomfortable for the user when sleeping. As a result, some support structures include ventilation holes, extra layers of material, adjustable air bladders and the like, to attempt to improve heat dissipation.
While it is desirable to provide foam products having good thermal properties, it has been difficult to achieve efficient thermal properties while maintaining the basic original properties of the foam.
US 2009/0288259 describes a latex foam which reflects to an appropriate degree the, sometimes conflicting, requirements set. In addition, the heat regulation of the known foam is still not entirely satisfactory since the heat regulation of the foam, as has been found, is achieved at the cost of the heat regulation or of the properties of the foam, such as the uniformity of the foam cell structure.
The object of the present invention is at least partially to overcome at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks, or else to provide a usable alternative.
According to the process of the present invention, it has now been surprisingly found that, in case the foamed product is latex foam, the efficiency and activity of the functionalized particles themselves are maintained and the foam properties such as air/moisture regulation and breathability are not adversely affected. Said foams also have been found to provide improved efficiency of the functional active agent.
The present invention relates to foams onto which additive are sprayed. The foams are characterized by having the active functional agents present by a particular particle size, particle spacing and coverage value within a specific top layer of the foam.
According to the present invention, there are a number of advantages associated with foam products containing functional particles only on the surface of the product which will be contacted by the user, and as opposed to particles throughout the entire structure of the foam.
Beyond the economic advantages associated with the use of less particles, there are also advantages associated with foams containing a functionalized particles in which the particle is not present in the foaming mixture during production of the foam, and is instead added during a post-foaming step. The presence of the particles in the foaming mixture may influence the foaming process, and requires adjustments to the various parameters used during foaming.
Accordingly, it is also a further object to provide functionalized latex foam with little or no adjustments to the conventional foaming production steps.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a thin functionalized mattress of the type to be used as a topper for a conventional mattress. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a functionalized topper on the order of 2 to 20 cm thick that has the area of a conventional mattress. This topper mattress is placed over a conventional mattress and is used to provide the comfort of latex foam without the expensive of replacing the conventional mattress providing the benefits as stated hereinabove.
The topper of the present invention is for use on top of an existing conventional mattress, to increase the comfort of the mattress while utilizing an existing conventional mattress. The topper can be used as an after market product and placed on top of a mattress.
Toppers for use in bedding or seating products are known. These toppers extend across the entire width and length of the particular bedding or seating product. If the particular bedding or seating product is a mattress, typically one such topper is placed on one side of the mattress, and a second topper is placed on the opposite side of the mattress thereby effectively “sandwiching” the mattress. This combination then typically is covered with an upholstered fabric covering.
Toppers have been designed so as to provide multiple degrees of stiffness or firmness. In particular, in a bedding structure, which includes an innerspring mattress and a topper, the topper includes foam which is glued or poured.
Alternatively, the topper in accordance with the present invention can be placed on an unfinished mattress (either a conventional mattress including steel springs or a foam mattress) and the topper and the mattress is then covered with fabric.
These and other preferred aspects of the invention are described in more detail below and will be better appreciated from the detailed description including the FIGURE.